Guests & Specials

The Panics

The Panics (Jae Laffer, Drew Wootton, Paul Otway, Julian Douglas and Myles Wootton) formed in high school when Jae Laffer and Drew Wootton met on the first day of term.

It’s since been a slow and steady build for The Panics. Since forming in Perth, big things have been predicted for the band. After being spotted playing in a pub by Happy Mondays’ Gaz Whelan and Pete Carroll, following the Mondays’ performance at The Big Day Out in 2000, they were signed to littleBIGMAN.

The Panics released two albums independently including A House On A Street In A Town I'm From (2003) and Sleeps Like A Curse (2005) which was nominated for a prestigious J Award and received a raft of critical acclaim. The band went on to spend time in England, performing at the UK's In The City Music convention twice (the late Tony Wilson was a fan) and supporting The Happy Mondays. They also recorded live performances for the BBC. Jae Laffer is very satisfied with Cruel Guards and does not flinch at its up-front boldness and ambition. “I’m proud to be in a band that keeps getting better and that people take seriously.”

The album was completed at Bigjesusburger studios in Sydney earlier this year. The basis of several of the tracks stem from home recordings the band put down in the house they share in Collingwood while further additions were made during sessions in New York City. Production was handled by the band and Scott Horscroft (The Sleepy Jackson, Silverchair) and mixed by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Beth Orton).

At the heart of the beauty of Cruel Guards is its unmistakable ‘Australianness’. There is a sense of space and scale that speaks of only one country. Musically the link may not be obvious but there is the same sense of our wide brown land that runs through the best work of The Triffids, The Go Betweens and Nick Cave.

“They were onto a good thing and were never pop stars because of it but it showed the importance of embracing where you’re from and who you are,” Laffer says. “There aren’t obvious lyrical references to Australia in the lyrics, but we are proud to fly our flag and we’d like to carry on in the tradition of our favourite groups who went away but continued to identify with this country.”

“Hopefully it will make people raise an eyebrow. We didn’t want to just give Panics fans something they are used to. I’d rather people were surprised and hopefully see that there aren’t any other guitar groups in this country making records like this.”

BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE The Bottom Line (Sony)STONE ROSES Fools Gold (Universal (MCA))T REX Get It On (Independent)BLACK GRAPE In The Name Of The Father (Universal)OASIS Whatever (Sony)BLUR Parklife (EMI)SUPERGRASS Alright (EMI)PULP Common People (Mercury)